When a telephone user wishes to place a call to another person or entity, but does not know the correct telephone number, the user can place a call to directory assistance, sometimes referred to as “information.” For instance, the user can call “411” to reach a live or automated operator, provide information as to the party the user wishes to call, i.e., the target party, and can receive the telephone number, typically from a speech synthesizer that “speaks” the number to the user.
Often, telephone systems provide automatic call completion to the target party. In such cases, the caller may, for example in exchange for a fee, be automatically connected to the target party without having to manually dial the telephone number provided by directory assistance. One known system for providing automatic call completion is schematically depicted in FIG. 1. In that figure, a calling party, party A, calls directory assistance, party B, with the intention of being connected to the target party, party C. When party A provides information about party C (e.g., identity information) to party B, party B provides the relevant telephone number to party A, for example with the speech synthesizer. When the telephone number is provided, a speech recognition device (SRD) connected to the line “listens” to the spoken telephone number to identify the various digits of the number. With that information, the number can be dialed by the system to automatically connect party A to party C.
There are several disadvantages to the above system. First, the speech recognition device may not be able to recognize the digits “spoken” by the speech synthesizer such that the follow-on call to party C cannot be completed. Alternatively, the speech recognition device may mis-recognize the digits spoken by the speech synthesizer such that a follow-on call is placed to an incorrect number.
Second, the above system is inefficient in its use of telephone system trunk lines. In particular, assuming party A is properly connected with party C, a first trunk line connecting party A with party B is used, and a second trunk line connecting party B with party C is used to enable communications between parties A and C. In addition to merely being inefficient, such a connection scheme is relatively expensive given that there are fees associated with trunk line usage.
Third, the above system can create difficulty with billing party A for the follow-on call to party C.